Wilmer DC vs. W&C
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2023 12:34 pm
Interested in litigation broadly. I keep hearing W&C is the obvious choice but I think I might be interested in government work one day and Wilmer seems to have unbeatable connections.
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Whats the basis for W&C not letting DOJ attorneys come back to the firm? I haven't heard that before.Anonymous User wrote: ↑Mon Aug 21, 2023 5:51 pmI have friends at both firms. Both are great options to have, and you should feel comfortable making the decision based on fit, or other factors beyond "preftige." (A few years ago, I would have advised you to just go entirely based on fit for a summer position, but with the way the plan is affecting clerkship hiring timelines, there's a real chance you'll be at the place you summer for a year or two after law school.)
I think if you're looking for a firm to set you up to go into government and then back to biglaw, Wilmer is probably the better option. (I'm sure you got the pitch during OCI, but W&C will not let you come back to the firm if you leave to go work at DOJ). That's not to say the alumni network isn't great--there were lots of W&C alums at the DOJ branch I spent a summer at--but the institutional support isn't as strong to help you make the jump for a few years.
If I were picking a firm to try and stick around for a while, I would probably go with W&C for the lower leverage ratio (and, I hear, relatively realistic path to partnership, which is the tradeoff for the lower compensation as a senior associate). Even though they're pretty much a mid-sized law firm now, they tend to run their matters more like a boutique with smaller teams, so you'll probably have a bit more interesting/"substantive" work to do as a junior (with the tradeoff that the hours seem to be worse than Wilmer/Covington/etc but better than a place like Kellogg).
That traditionally was true of W&C, in the sense that it does not have lateral partners and did not take *anyone* back from *anywhere*. This has been relaxed more recently, and lawyers have returned to the firm from, e.g., DOJ, Google, the CFPB, etc., but as counsels on the partner track. (W&C does not really have counsels otherwise--unlike Wilmer, it does not promote everyone at the 6th or so year to that title.) Some of those counsels have gone on to make partner and others eventually have left. It is true that W&C does not have the robust revolving door of other DC firms and so does not have as much natural support for jumping to government as a place like Wilmer, but it also isn't actively anti-government and will take its former associates back.Anonymous User wrote: ↑Tue Aug 22, 2023 9:43 amWhats the basis for W&C not letting DOJ attorneys come back to the firm? I haven't heard that before.Anonymous User wrote: ↑Mon Aug 21, 2023 5:51 pmI have friends at both firms. Both are great options to have, and you should feel comfortable making the decision based on fit, or other factors beyond "preftige." (A few years ago, I would have advised you to just go entirely based on fit for a summer position, but with the way the plan is affecting clerkship hiring timelines, there's a real chance you'll be at the place you summer for a year or two after law school.)
I think if you're looking for a firm to set you up to go into government and then back to biglaw, Wilmer is probably the better option. (I'm sure you got the pitch during OCI, but W&C will not let you come back to the firm if you leave to go work at DOJ). That's not to say the alumni network isn't great--there were lots of W&C alums at the DOJ branch I spent a summer at--but the institutional support isn't as strong to help you make the jump for a few years.
If I were picking a firm to try and stick around for a while, I would probably go with W&C for the lower leverage ratio (and, I hear, relatively realistic path to partnership, which is the tradeoff for the lower compensation as a senior associate). Even though they're pretty much a mid-sized law firm now, they tend to run their matters more like a boutique with smaller teams, so you'll probably have a bit more interesting/"substantive" work to do as a junior (with the tradeoff that the hours seem to be worse than Wilmer/Covington/etc but better than a place like Kellogg).
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing that insight.Anonymous User wrote: ↑Tue Aug 22, 2023 11:32 pmThat traditionally was true of W&C, in the sense that it does not have lateral partners and did not take *anyone* back from *anywhere*. This has been relaxed more recently, and lawyers have returned to the firm from, e.g., DOJ, Google, the CFPB, etc., but as counsels on the partner track. (W&C does not really have counsels otherwise--unlike Wilmer, it does not promote everyone at the 6th or so year to that title.) Some of those counsels have gone on to make partner and others eventually have left. It is true that W&C does not have the robust revolving door of other DC firms and so does not have as much natural support for jumping to government as a place like Wilmer, but it also isn't actively anti-government and will take its former associates back.Anonymous User wrote: ↑Tue Aug 22, 2023 9:43 amWhats the basis for W&C not letting DOJ attorneys come back to the firm? I haven't heard that before.Anonymous User wrote: ↑Mon Aug 21, 2023 5:51 pmI have friends at both firms. Both are great options to have, and you should feel comfortable making the decision based on fit, or other factors beyond "preftige." (A few years ago, I would have advised you to just go entirely based on fit for a summer position, but with the way the plan is affecting clerkship hiring timelines, there's a real chance you'll be at the place you summer for a year or two after law school.)
I think if you're looking for a firm to set you up to go into government and then back to biglaw, Wilmer is probably the better option. (I'm sure you got the pitch during OCI, but W&C will not let you come back to the firm if you leave to go work at DOJ). That's not to say the alumni network isn't great--there were lots of W&C alums at the DOJ branch I spent a summer at--but the institutional support isn't as strong to help you make the jump for a few years.
If I were picking a firm to try and stick around for a while, I would probably go with W&C for the lower leverage ratio (and, I hear, relatively realistic path to partnership, which is the tradeoff for the lower compensation as a senior associate). Even though they're pretty much a mid-sized law firm now, they tend to run their matters more like a boutique with smaller teams, so you'll probably have a bit more interesting/"substantive" work to do as a junior (with the tradeoff that the hours seem to be worse than Wilmer/Covington/etc but better than a place like Kellogg).
(Source: am a former W&C associate currently working in a political role. Was told when leaving that the firm would be happy to have me back, though I don't assume that I could come back as a partner in ten years or anything.)
To be clear, Wilmer's "counsels" are basically just associates past Y7 (not unlike how K&E calls it's 7th years and up partners). "Counsel" is not a long term/permanent non-partner role at Wilmer like it is at other firms. Wilmer uses the title "Special Counsel" for that.Anonymous User wrote: ↑Tue Aug 22, 2023 11:32 pmThis has been relaxed more recently, and lawyers have returned to the firm from, e.g., DOJ, Google, the CFPB, etc., but as counsels on the partner track. (W&C does not really have counsels otherwise--unlike Wilmer, it does not promote everyone at the 6th or so year to that title.) Some of those counsels have gone on to make partner and others eventually have left.